Private Lessons
by PadawanMage
Summary: Specialist Cally gets some intimate lessons from a surprise friend. Set as a response to Kim's Challenge on the BSG2003 Yahoo board where we were to write about a character's first kiss. My thanks for Libby for the inspiration to rewrite this and to Kim


**Title:** "Private Lessons"

**Rating:** PG-13 (mild slash)

**Summary:** Specialist Cally gets some intimate lessons from a surprising friend.

**Author's Notes:** This story is something of a combination of Kim's First Kiss challenge as well as an offshoot to some chats I've had with Scooter Kitty. Cally might be considered out of character but that's due to several discussions I had with Libby, who has definitely has a flair for words.

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Specialist Cally winced and a deep pit formed in her stomach as she watched a Mark VII Viper make a bumpy landing into the port side landing bay. She winced because it was a personal affront to her abilities that the ship didn't perform correctly, but the pit in her gut was due to the fact that the pilot of the plane was Captain Lee Adama.

"Aw, frak!" said Socinus, who had also caught the landing on the monitors, from behind Cally. "Bet you ten to one it's the lousy gimbal again."

Cally shook her head. "No bet. I'm the one who worked on the CAG's plane last, remember?" Socinus' face contorted in sympathetic hurt as he contemplated the inevitable ass-chewing to come. Everyone remembered the occasional fights Chief Tyrol and Lt. Valeri would have over all manner of things. Cally often wondered how many people knew the true reason for the fights those two had – or what that they eventually led to behind closed doors. She sighed. Some people just got all the luck.

Leaving some last minute instructions with Socinus, Cally stepped out of the main observation room just as the airlock doors opened revealing the Viper. A small tractor pulled up, locked on to its landing strut, and began to pull the Viper to a parking slot. Even as she walked over, she could see the Captain shake his head from behind the canopy. Once parked, a small ladder was pushed near the cockpit. Cally quickly walked over and climbed up just as the canopy slid back. The CAG took off his helmet and handed it to her. Her heart skipped a beat as he ran a hand through sweat matted hair and glanced over at her with those blue eyes of his.

Lee Adama blew a tired, loud breath. "It's that gimbal, again," he said without preamble. "Where's the Chief? I really need to have a nice, long chat with him about this," he said as he began to climb out of the cockpit.

Cally knew what the 'chat' would entail, but she also knew that it wouldn't be fair for the Captain put all the blame on Tyrol. Everyone was working way too many shifts and she understood the pilots were also pulling double-duty on patrol. As CAG, Capt. Adama was probably at the top of the list with the most hours currently on patrol, but that did _not_ give him the right to tear into the Chief.

"The Chief's actually on the _Hephaestus_. He took a quick trip over there to go over some ideas with the engineers so that spare parts could be made a lot quicker." Cally crossed her arms and lifted her chin slightly. "Besides, I was the one who worked on that gimbal last, so if you have anything you need to tell me so I can get an idea as to how to fix it this time, now's the time to speak up," she said a little defensively.

The captain was taken slightly aback at the by the tone in the specialist's voice. "Fine," he said coolly. "For starters, the ship sometimes yaws to the left slightly when I want to pitch down. That's probably what happened as I was coming in for a landing. Think you can look into it?"

"Sure."

Adama nodded and started to walk away. Cally mentally kicked herself, seeing yet another opportunity passing by.

"Captain Adama!" she said suddenly. The CAG stopped and slowly turned around, his eyebrows rising questioningly. Cally had played so many scenarios in her mind, trying to find some way to just talk to him, but when she looked into those cold blue eyes, she couldn't find anything to say. "I'll...do the best I can, sir," she finally said, mentally rolling her eyes. _Oh, good one, Cally!_

Adama merely regarded her for a few moments, nodded once, and walked towards the nearest hatch.

Cally's eyes followed Lee's retreating back until he disappeared from the hangar deck. She sagged visibly and put a hand to her face, wiping it in disgust. With her eyes closed, she failed to notice another pair of eyes taking note of her reaction. Sighing, Cally walked over to one of the many storage sheds that held spare components and went in.

---

Boxes of all shapes and sizes lined every wall as well as many shelving units taking up most of the space. Cally walked from one aisle to the next, checking to serial numbers of each box. Finally, she stopped and looked from her clipboard to a lone box on the highest shelf from where she was standing. She snorted and shook her head. Of course, it wouldn't be easy, would it?

Setting the clipboard aside, she brought a foot up and tested the strength of the metal shelf. Satisfied that it would hold her weight, she slowly hauled herself up and stretched as much as she could. Her fingers just made it to the box. They closed on it and with a small grunt, pulled it off...and then had her foot slip a little on the shelf. She fell backwards in an undignified heap as more boxes fell and landed all around her. She covered her face in case any of the boxes might be heavy, but fortunately none hit her. Slowly, she checked herself for possible injury, but felt nothing broken; bruises perhaps, but nothing that warranted a trip to Lifestation.

"Shit!" she swore as she surveyed the strewn boxes. With that much jostling, she knew she'd have to check every component to make sure nothing was damaged! She quickly started picking up several boxes at one time, but for every two she picked up, one kept falling back down. This went on for a moment or two until, holding on to one box, she blinked at the mess around her and gritted her teeth. Grunting in disgust, she hurled the box into the darkness of the shed. She leaned on a nearby wall and slid down in an embittered heap on the floor.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" she hissed, hitting the back of her head against the wall, punctuating each swear. Every time she tried to at least open a conversation with Capt. Adama, inevitably she'd always screw it up, either by not knowing what to say, or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. Why couldn't the Lords just give her a break for once?

"Hey."

Her head snapped up in surprise to see Kara Thrace walk up to her, holding the now crumpled box in her hand.

"I think this is yours," the blonde Viper pilot said, casually dumping the box back on the ground.

"Lieutenant!...I – uh," she started to say, but was waved off by Kara who crossed her arms and looked down at the Deckhand.

"Cally, for one thing: I'm off duty, so space the whole rank thing, okay? And second," here she peered at the girl closely, "what's wrong?"

The mechanic opened her and closed her mouth a few times but didn't say anything. She gestured angrily at the mess around her.

Kara frowned. "It's only a mess, Cally," she said gently. "I'll help clean it up if you need it, though I get the impression that's not all that's bothering you."

But the nettled Deckhand simply shrugged a disheartened expression in her eyes. Kara looked down at the girl – barely a woman, really – and shook her head. Over the past few months Kara had spent some of her off time down in the hangar helping Cally on the Vipers. She thought it played well with Tyrol's crew that even some of the 'hotshot' pilots didn't mind getting their hands dirty on their 'precious' birds. Although she was just as exhausted as the rest, she still thought it was time well spent. One of the benefits was that any possible malfunctions could be dealt with in a swifter manner.

Kara and Cally hit off from the get go. Both enjoyed each other's company, possibly due to the fact that one could see a little reflection of the 'tomboy' in the other. Although they sometimes talked about men, Kara noticed Cally's behavior change a certain one was around or even mentioned. Her suspicions were somewhat confirmed when she noticed the Deckhand's reaction after Lee left. Though from their body language, Kara could tell that Lee and Cally had not parted in amicable terms. She thought Cally might want to get something off her chest, maybe even in somewhere with a small measure of privacy. What she wasn't prepared for was to see the girl looking bent out of shape, not to mention having to dodge a projectile!

Unobtrusively, Kara sat down next to Cally, brought her knees up and rested her arms on them. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked quietly. The deckhand snorted, and Kara sighed inwardly knowing that she'd have to broach what she thought was the problem in typical 'Starbuck' fashion:

"So...how long have you had feelings for Lee?"

The other woman's eyes widened as she turned to stare in horror at Kara. _Bingo!_

"What?" Cally asked, her tone almost balking at the suggestion.

"Well," Kara said slowly, "whenever I bring him up in conversation you kind of clam up. And just now I noticed the look you gave him as he was leaving.

When the younger woman started chewing her lip, but still kept silent, Kara swung her arm out and draped it over the girl's shoulders. With a gentle squeeze she said, "C'mon, talk to me."

Cally shook her head slightly. "I only wish it were only my feelings for Lee..."

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I think the Lords are having a good laugh at my expense sometimes," Cally muttered. "I know we all lost someone in the war, some more than others. But it seems that a lot of people have someone they can be with or even talk to." Her eyes flashed as she stared off into the distance. "Why can't I find someone, huh? What's wrong with me? Is it because I'm ugly, or what?" She bit her lower lip and laughed mirthlessly. "Even the Chief finds time to be with Boomer, and that's against regulations!" She stopped rambling and looked at Kara with a nervous look in her eye.

The older woman winked. "Don't worry, I know. It's a small ship, after all."

Cally plunged on, finding the need to just vent. "It doesn't help one damn bit that I'm...that I've never..."

Kara tried not to grin. "You can say it Cally, it's not a dirty word."

"That I'm a virgin," the girl said, her tone laced with frustration. Kara squeezed the younger woman's shoulder, giving only silent support.

Cally closed her eyes and shook her head. "I've always been a stickler for regulations, you know? But when I found out about the Chief and Boomer...and then the war...I started to think 'Why not me?' "

"And that's when you began to notice Lee," Kara added.

The girl nodded and chuckled dryly. "Yeah, but the thing is I just don't know what to do! I mean, before the war, sure we could've at least started talking. If there was some 'spark' there, we could do all those stupid things people do when they want to get to know one another. Before the war, that would've been great. But now...?" Cally waved a hand encompassing everything, not just the room she and Kara were in, but everything else _out there_.

The officer nodded to herself, continuing with that thought. "...now that the world's ended, none of the dating ritual's we're so used to are going to matter anymore," she finished quietly.

Cally looked surprised at the comment. "Yeah, exactly!"

Kara looked over and studied the girl for a moment. "If you were starting to like Lee, why didn't you ask me for some pointers? I'd be glad to help."

"Well...I always thought that you and he were...you know..."

The blonde Viper pilot smirked and shook her head. "Yeah, I get that a lot, but no, Lee and I are only friends. He's probably one of the few people left who knows me best. It's been like that since..." her voice trailed off and she leaned her head back to the wall in wistful silence.

"Sorry," Cally mumbled. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

Kara shook her head, coming back from her reverie. "Sorry? Sorry for what?" she chided. "I'm not sorry for the time I spent with Zac. I just didn't think I'd ever feel what I felt when I was with him."

"It must've been nice."

"Yeah...it was," Kara said, remembering again. "But don't delude yourself Cally: no relationship is perfect. It takes a _lot_ of work."

"I just hope I can ever get to that point."

"I don't mean to pry and all, but since you two were close I thought you and Prosna..." Kara started, but was cut off by Cally vehemently shaking her head.

"Oh, no! No, no, no!" she said, then chuckled. "I was always 'one of the guys', you know?"

"I think I can relate," Kara said with no small amount of irony.

"And Prosna..." Cally paused here, swallowing a bit at her own memories. "Well, with Prosna, he was just one of those few best friends people have in their lives...kind of like with you and Lee."

"You guys never thought to try?"

Cally smiled wanly at her and shook her head. "Well, we brought it up every so often, but we'd both end up laughing so hard at the thought. It'd be like kissing a brother," she said with a shudder. "We never kissed...nothing." She looked away despondently. "I've never kissed anyone."

"Never?" Kara asked with a widening of her eyes and slight raise of her eyebrows.

"Nope," Cally said scornfully. "Who'd want to make out with a grease monkey?" She snorted a wry laugh and then pushed herself off the ground. "You know, I sometimes joke that I'm so clueless when it comes to kissing, I have no idea where the tongue goes!"

Kara's jaw dropped at the joke and before she could stopped herself she started giggling. Horrified Cally looked down as the pilot began to shake with laughter.

"It's...it's not that funny!" she tried to say with a modicum of dignity, but found her mouth twitching as Kara covered her own mouth, her eyes blinking away tears. _Aw, Hell! _Cally thought as she burst out laughing with her friend. Still giggling, Kara slowly pushed herself up as well and looked down at the shorter girl.

"There, do you feel better now?"

Cally grudgingly nodded. "You really know how to ruin a good sulk," she said in mock indignation.

The older woman smiled and leaned in. "Let me let you in on a little secret: say what you want about sex and all that, but when it comes to making out, once you learn, it's pretty easy...tongue and all," she finished with a mischievous smile.

Cally rolled her eyes at the slight jab and shook her head. "I just wish I could learn, you know?" she said. "So I don't make an ass of myself if or when I ever do get to do that with Lee."

Kara's expression turned thoughtful. She tilted her head and regarded her friend. "Do you want to learn?" she asked quietly.

Cally, shook her head incredulously. "Who'd want to teach me? It's like I said: who'd want to kiss a grease –" and before she could finish, she felt herself gently pulled and her lips locked onto Kara's.

It was a gentle kiss, almost a chaste kiss...not forceful or rushed or even heated, but with a hint of soothing tenderness the Deckhand had never known possible. Part of her screamed at what the Viper pilot was doing, but another part, a deeper, hungrier part wanted more. Kara's hands came up and cupped the girl's face. As she pulled back she tenderly kissed and nipped each lip, causing Cally to tremble unconsciously.

Kara looked at the flushed girl with half-hooded eyes. "Well?" she asked, her voice just a hair above a purr.

Cally said nothing for a moment, her mouth still slightly open in surprise and Kara started to think she might've done the wrong thing. That is, until Cally ran a tongue on her upper lip and a finger across her lower one, her eyes blinking in wonder.

"Kara," she started to say, "I'm not...I only like..." But she was silenced by a single finger to her lips.

"I know," Kara said quietly. "But for now...don't think, okay?"

The girl nodded, her head still swimming from the sensation.

Kara looked askance. "You didn't like it?"

"I didn't say that! You just took me by surprise, is all," Cally breathed, and then a smile began to tug at the corners of her lips. "I guess it was...nice."

"You...guess?"

Cally rolled her eyes at the teasing tone. "Well, it was my first!" Her face then reddened and she bit back a grin. "I won't know for sure...until I do it again." Now Kara's eyes widened at the playful tone in the girl's voice.

Flashing a brilliant smile, Kara leaned over and captured Cally's lips with her own again. She was still gentle, though now she could feel the girl's hot breath on her face and her own heart began to beat faster with the building heat. Cally, with her eyes closed slowly tried to experiment by kissing and nipping here and there. She slid a hand forward and entwined her fingers with the other woman's hand. Another hand came up, brushed Kara's cheek, and then reached back to slide behind her neck. Kara smiled as she felt herself being pulled closer.

Fully immersed in the moment, she let her tongue tease and play with Cally's. The young girl moaned soulfully as the kiss deepened. Kara's free hand came up and caressed Cally's face, her touch sending shivers down the other woman's spine. Finally, just as the hands of both women began to slide down the others' respective shirts, they pulled away in breathless realization. The two women stood there panting, neither saying anything at the moment, but both looking at the other in heated intoxication from the charged air between them.

Kara sent a slightly trembling hand to her own face and was mildly surprised at the slickness she felt there. "So," she started, still trying to catch her breath. "How – how was that?"

Cally licked her lips and slowly squeezed the hand that was still entwined with Kara's. "Wow! That...that...was pretty good!"

Kara chuckled. "Well, coming from you, I'm quite flattered." She leaned over and touched her forehead to Cally's. "So...feel better now?"

"Yeah...oh, yeah."

The pilot looked into the younger girl's eyes for a minute and then shook her head.

"Damn," Kara said.

"What?"

Kara shrugged and sighed. "I have to tell you one thing, Cal."

"What's that?"

"I am starting to really, really feel jealous of Lee, now."

Cally chuckled and hugged the other woman closer, placing her head on Kara's shoulder.

"Kara?"

"Hmm?"

The younger woman looked up at the pilot with gratitude in her eyes.

"Thank you."

Kara placed a last, gentle kiss on the deckhand's cheek.

"Anytime, Cally, anytime."

**-FIN- **


End file.
